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Bank of America: Economic Winner

The company reported that its Basel III Tier 1 common equity ratio was 9.25% as of Dec. 31. The Basel III ratio was already significantly above the 8.5% that will be required in January 2019, when the Federal Reserve's enhanced capital requirements for systemically important financial institutions are fully phased in.

When discussing Bank of America's cost-cutting efforts, CEO Brian Moynihan said during the earnings conference call on Jan. 17 that "we have reduced our employee count in each quarter in the last five and we have done that while we continue to invest in our targeted growth areas," and that "we reduced our delinquent mortgage count, which allowed us to reduce our [legacy asset servicing] expenses," according to a transcript provided by Thomson Reuters.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Christopher Mutascio rates Bank of America "buy," with a $13 price target, and said in a report on Jan. 18 that his positive take on the stock was unchanged, because of the company's modest net interest margin expansion and "solid growth" in several areas of fee income.

Philip W. van Doorn is a member of TheStreet's banking and finance team, commenting on industry and regulatory trends. He previously served as the senior analyst for TheStreet.com Ratings, responsible for assigning financial strength ratings to banks and savings and loan institutions. Mr. van Doorn previously served as a loan operations officer at Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, Fla., and as a credit analyst at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, where he monitored banks in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Mr. van Doorn has additional experience in the mutual fund and computer software industries. He holds a bachelor of science in business administration from Long Island University.